Brussels, 31/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - During her visit to Jeddah on Monday 30 May, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini announced that the EU and Saudi Arabia would like to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against terrorism and radicalisation.
“We discussed the possibility of deepening counter-terrorism coordination and working together on anti-radicalisation”, she said at a press conference with Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir. “This could be a field for common work for the future we agreed to explore”¸ she added, stating that both parties faced common challenges. In reply to a parliamentary question on 3 May 2016, Mogherini had already said that the EU was prioritising progress in the fight against violent extremism and terrorism as part of its relationship with Saudi Arabia, and that it would continue to seek closer cooperation with the country on the need to prevent the continuation of private donations from Gulf countries to terrorist groups.
At a press conference, Mogherini reiterated that the relationship between the EU and Saudi Arabia was “strong and deep” in many different fields. Together with al-Jubeir, she also discussed visas, human rights, the opportunities of working on an exchange of experts or technical cooperation, and economic and trade relations - “in particular the opportunities that Vision 2030 [on the future of Saudi Arabia in 2030] offers for our bilateral cooperation in a series of technical fields”, she said.
Mogherini and al-Jubeir also discussed the situation in Libya and in the Middle East, especially as regards Iraq, the Middle East peace process, Yemen and Syria. She underlined the importance of maintaining the cessation of hostilities on the ground, and of political negotiations being started alongside this, saying that thus far there had been no direct discussions. The process “is not an easy one and will not be an easy one”, she said. “We cannot waste it, we cannot make it fail”, she added.
In addition, Mogherini announced that a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ministerial meeting would be held in Brussels in July, during which the negotiations for an EU-GCC free trade negotiation will be addressed. Although the negotiations, which were started in 1988, have still not concluded successfully, Mogherini stated that the Europeans were “flexible to find ways of accommodating different views, to find a solution” and that only “minor” issues are left. She added that the EU was willing to reach an agreement and that she had seen the same willingness on the GCC side. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)